"Oversoul! Mic, let's go!!!" Chocolove bared his claws as he defeated the shaman husband applicant easily.
Anna looked on from the background approvingly.
Manta looked up from his computer. "Next!"
Ryu pulled the unconscious body of the defeated shaman away as another shaman husband applicant prepared to face Chocolove.
The African boy looked at the itako. "Miss Anna, what time is Ren's shift?"
She looked at her watch. "One hour and ten minutes more."
"Waah! I'm hungry already!"
"Shut up before I decide to give Ren an extra hour of rest at your expense!"
"Yes Ma'am!" Choco went back to his fighting stance.
This was the scene that Horo Horo had encountered upon arriving home. So that's why there was a long line of men in front of his mansion!
Manta looked at the just-arrived shaman. "Horo Horo! Welcome home!"
"Thanks. I thought there was a commercial shooting here or something awhile ago." He looked at the long line again, then at Anna. "Poor men. They do not know what they are getting into. Marrying Anna is like throwing yourself into a volcano. It's suicide."
"Oh, it's not so bad. Yoh-kun is still alive, isn't he?"
"Yup, that's the ninth wonder of the world." He looked around. "Shouldn't it be Yoh fighting out there? Let me guess…he's in the orthopedic clinic right now, suffering from premature osteoporosis due to constant beatings?"
"Nah. He went out to visit a friend."
"You mean Anna allowed him to go…without a fight?" His eyes went back at the itako. "She's mellowing." He slung his snowboard over his shoulder. "I better go inside and rest. I want to see Pirika already."
"Hai! Rest well!" Manta went back to work. "OK, next is number fifty six!" he called as Ryu dragged yet another body away.
Horo Horo blinked when he saw a green-haired boy reading books by the window, a cup of tea on his hand. The boy noticed him, and he gracefully stood up. "Hello. You must be Horo Horo, the owner of the house."
"Y-Yeah…"
"My name is Lyserg Diethyl, and I was allowed by Ms. Pirika to stay here while I wait for Yoh. I am glad to meet you." He held out a hand politely. Horo shook it awkwardly then turned to the stairs. "Is Pirika in her room?"
"I believe so."
"Thanks. Have a nice stay here. Consider this place as yours too."
"Thank you." Lyserg bowed and returned to his book.
Pirika was putting new curtains in her room, with Ren holding the bar steady.
"You're going to make it hard for me to enter your window every night," he complained.
"Oh shut up. The moment I saw this fabric in the market, I knew I want to see it hanging by my window already," said the girl. Her cheeks flamed when she realized what Ren said. She looked up at the boy who was smiling half-teasingly, half-seriously, and half-vexingly. Hey wait, that was too many halves, wasn't it?
She turned her back on him, busying herself with the curtains. "Hah! You don't even have the guts to enter through my bedroom door! How shameful for a warrior!"
Ren laughed – he had never ever felt this good in his whole life. "That's an idea. Don't lock it tonight then."
"Hmp! I don't know what my future husband will say when he learns that…that someone had kissed me twice already…" She bit her lip.
Ren stopped laughing. "Pirika…"
"Ah, don't mind me!" She smiled, but it didn't last long. The Tao was gazing at her intently, purposefully holding her gaze. She tried to laugh, but it came out nervously. "D-Don't take me…too seriously…"
"What if I am?" he asked challengingly.
"I-It's just a silly old custom-"
"I don't care about the customs," he said harshly.
She blinked.
"But I do care about those kisses. I want them to be mine exclusively." He smiled. "Pirika, what if I tell you that when we reach the right age, I'll marry you?"
Her jaw dropped. "E-Eh?!!" She tried to smile, but seeing his eyes…no, he was serious. "H-How can you say that? I will marry at eighteen, and who knows what can happen before those years?"
He laughed quietly. "I will wait then."
"Silly. W-Why would you do that?"
"Guess," he said, eyes twinkling. His arms reached for her.
She instinctively stepped back, but lost her footing on the ladder. Ren was able to hold on her in the last minute, but they both fell down. Ren cushioned her fall with his body.
"R-Ren, hey are you alright?" she asked panickedly.
She got her answer when she felt him move her to the right. Now she was the one below him, and looking at his wild, passionate eyes. He was panting heavily, perhaps because of the impact of the fall on his back, but his eyes were on her alone.
He leaned down towards her. "Wo ai ni," he whispered to her ear.
"Y-You're making fun of me again," she complained.
"You think I'm kidding?" he asked, smiling. He then bent down to kiss her.
Bason suddenly appeared. "Master, we have a problem." The power spirit was frantically pointing to the door.
"Not now, Bason," grumbled Ren, not bothering to look at his spirit's way.
"M-Master!"
"Shut up."
"B-But young master Ren-"
"I won't let you watch Ultraman anymore if you don't shut up!" he yelled, pausing only long enough to glare at his spirit.
The spirit shrugged. "OK, but don't say that I didn't warn you." Bason promptly disappeared.
Ren sighed then looked back at Pirika. "So where were we?"
She blushed.
"Oh yeah. That part." He started to kiss her again when something really hard slammed on his head. He held on to his head as Pirika looked on, hand on her mouth. "Hey, what was that for-" He turned to the floor and saw it was a…
…snowboard.
Horo Horo was leaning on the doorway, tapping his foot in a homicidal rhythm.
Ren blinked.
Horo narrowed his eyes.
Pirika looked like she was ready to faint.
"I am so going to kill you," said Horo calmly.
"Onii-chan," whispered Pirika fearfully.
"Out of my house," said the Ainu boy in the same even tone.
Ren got up. "Not a chance."
"R-Ren…"
The Tao stepped in front of her protectively. "Horo Horo, I am intending to make her my wife."
"Is that so?"
Minutes later, ice daggers smashed the window of Pirika's room, nearly stabbing the lined up shamans in the front yard.
"W-What was that?" asked Manta, looking up.
Just then, a large spirit appeared.
"A gundam!" cried the startled Manta.
"Its name is Bason," said Anna, looking up at the big oversoul with detached interest. "Looks like the news between Pirika and Ren Tao was revealed to Horo Horo already."
The other shamans, upon seeing the oversouls, dashed out of the yard fearfully.
Lyserg watched from the window, smiling satisfactorily.
Let's see how you fight, shamans.
"Hey you two, break it up!!!" pleaded Pirika. However, her voice was too small to be heard by the two furious boys. She decided to try another tactic. She went back into the house.
"Pirika is my most precious wealth…my only treasure. No one can take her away from me easily!!!" Horo summoned his own big oversoul.
"Pirika is hell important to me too!" Ren attacked him. "Chuukazanmai!"
Horo shielded quickly, then powered an avalanche. Ren was able to use his armor to divert it to the right.
"Give me one good reason why I should listen to you!" Horo hurled out ice daggers at his way again.
"Because…because…" Ren tightened his grip on his spear. It was one thing saying it to a sleeping girl, or using it to tease her…but…saying it aloud in public. He, who had never spoken his feelings out loud before…
"Onii-chan, Ren, stop it!!!" screamed Pirika. She was standing on top of the roof.
His eyes went to the shouting blue-haired girl, and his eyes softened. Seeing her was enough to give him the courage to do the things he hand never imagined to do even in his wildest dreams. He turned to Horo Horo resolutely. "Because I love her! I love your sister very much, and I will marry her!" he yelled, loud and clear, and with all his heartfelt sincerity.
One that was able to render Horo speechless.
Pirika stunned, and crying.
And everyone else smiling proudly for him.
Manta whistled and clapped. Choco tried to clap too, but realized that he still had his oversoul claws, so he ended up with bruised palms instead.
Bason cheered. "You did it, Master Ren! You DID it!!!"
Ryu applauded. "Ren Tao, you're the MAN!"
"I…I guess I did…" His eyes went to Pirika, who was crying happily. He smiled at her lovingly. Thank you, Pirika.
He paused when he felt a stick against his throat. Horo was smiling at him. "Such guts…and you shocked me. I never thought you were the type to do that, but you did."
Ren smiled. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Nevertheless, be warned. Make my sister cry, and I'll take you to hell." Horo withdrew his weapon and jumped down. Pirika hugged her brother happily. "Arigatou, onii-chan!"
He smiled sadly. "My sister…my little sister has grown up already…and now I've entrusted you to the hands of another man…"
"Silly! You're still my number one man! You and otoosan and Ren!" She hugged him tighter.
"Good enough, I guess," decided the Ainu boy.
"So with all the excitement in the house, you guys forgot to cook dinner?" asked Anna, eyebrow arched.
Ryu rubbed his head sheepishly. "So sorry, Ms. Anna…but I'm too tired to cook…"
"Me too," said Chocolove.
"Me three," said Manta.
"Don't look at me," said Horo Horo, who was seated between Pirika and Ren. "How I wish Tamao was here," he sighed.
Pirika giggled. "You miss her already?"
Horo's face turned red. "Hell no! I mean, she can do the cooking for us!"
Lyserg raised his hand. "I-I can cook…dakedo, I do not know really well how to do it…"
"What do you cook?" asked Ren, eyes narrowed.
"Instant noodles."
"Figures," muttered the Tao.
Bason appeared, snickering. "At least he knows how to cook noodles. Young master can't even cook water."
"How dare you!"
Pirika smiled. "I can teach you how to cook, Ren."
The Tao smiled back. "Thanks."
Horo cleared his throat. "Okaaaayyyyy, you two. BREAK IT UP!!!"
Anna stood up. "Fine. I'll go downtown and buy something to eat, you helpless cretins."
"Hey!" complained Horo. "That's not very nice."
Anna reached for his wallet. "And at the same time, I think I'll do a little shopping myself. This is Yoh's tab. Thanks." She got out of the room.
"W-What…just happened?" asked Horo in daze, looking at his empty wallet.
"I-I think you've just been robbed," said Manta, eyes wide.
"Poor Yoh," chorused everyone, sighing.
Anna was able to get a Chinese take-out within minutes and was able to shop for her new bandanna. She was on her way home when she heard a horse neigh. It sounded really familiar, even though common sense told her that all horses' neigh sound the same. She was about to walk away when a coin dropped from her hand. It rolled into the bush. She sighed, irritated. She placed the plastic of food take-outs by the tree and crawled into the bush, looking for her coin.
At last, she detected it by the edge of the grass, beside a pond. She crawled into the bush and reached for the coin.
~Neigh!
She blinked. Was it she, or the sound of the horse was louder than awhile ago? She turned to her left and found the familiar black horse tied up in a nearby tree. Her eyes widened.
She then heard the gentle splishing and splashing of water. She looked ahead and found a young man resembling Yoh bathing in the pond. He was watching her, clearly amused.
Wait a minute…those eyes…"We meet again…and this time, it's me in an uncompromising situation," he drawled.
She felt her face heat up. The way he speaks, it was she in that uncompromising situation and not him. He didn't look like he had any care in the world, least of all that a young woman was gaping at him in all his naked glory in an isolated pond.
She then remembered. The voice…yes, and the eyes…
The boy who saved her from the quagmire! It was him!
He noticed the spark of recognition in her eyes. He chuckled. "Well, that took you long enough to remember. As for me, you never left my mind. I can't stop worrying whether you made it home when I left you with that jaguar." His forehead creased. "You keep jaguars as home pets? I won't be too surprised now if your aquarium has Moby Dick swimming in it."
She was speechless.
"Well, don't tell me you're just going to stare at me all night long," he said, clearly entertained by the thought. "Do you want to join me? It's big enough for the two of us."
She jolted back to reality. She was able to retrieve the remaining poise within her and used it to stand up gracefully. "No. The water is already polluted by the dirt in your mind."
He laughed out loud. "Oh dear, I wasn't thinking of anything when I invited you to bathe with me. But now that you suggested…"
Her eyes crinkled in anger. "Pervert."
"All men are perverts. If one isn't, he has one serious problem with his sexuality."
"My Yoh is not a pervert!" she said in impulse.
The boy frowned. "Oh…your boyfriend?"
She blinked, speechless yet again.
"What kind of a man is he then, not lusting after someone as pretty as you?" asked the stranger, gazing at her appreciatively.
"H-He is not my boyfriend…"
"Then he's your…"
"Nothing."
"Great!" exclaimed the stranger, standing up. Anna screamed, clamping her hands over her eyes. She could hear his crisp laughter, the suddenly felt his hands on hers. They removed her hands from her eyes. Now they were face to face- his laughing eyes on her seething and embarrassed ones.
"Then no one won't be mad if I do court you, eh?" he asked, grinning.
She looked down. Would Yoh care? Her mind immediately shut her heart out. Why was she worrying about Yoh's feelings anyway? He was no one important, just her bodyguard.
"You'll have to fall in line," she said after a while. "A lot of men are answering my ads."
"Oh?" He chuckled. "Lady luck is smiling on me today. I was looking for that girl too before, until I met you. Since then, I stopped looking for her, and started looking for you. Fancy knowing that you and that gutsy woman looking for a shaman king husband in the ads is the same person." He laughed. "OK, I'll fall in line then."
She blinked, then pulled her hands away from his. "Great! You got my clothes wet!"
"Did I?" he asked innocently.
"Hmp!" She turned her back on him quickly. "Get dressed already, or you might catch a cold."
"Thanks for the concern!"
"Hmp!"
Hao chuckled to himself as he watched her go. "She's one-of-a-kind. A perfect bride, if I may say."
He sank back into the water, feeling more relaxed than he had ever been before. "I'll start the wooing tomorrow."
Tsuzuku
No omake today… And ah, the random mankin talk will not be translated, since it has too many Pinoy-only references. ^^;; Gomen nasai.
Now someone emailed me about my fic…email address withheld of course.
yOu are a DORK! How did come to say that Horo Horo and that bitch, Tamao will be together? Horo Horo x Ren forever! If you are too stupid to watch the whole anime series and the comic volumes, then I feel sorry for you. Can't you type anything better than this rubbish? (censored) know-it-all! You did not make Shaman King, so how dare you make up your own couples! (sic) Whatever you imagine, it will not affect the series so just SHUT THE HELL UP!
Oh yes, about those dumb omakes…why do you make stuff like that in a language we don't understand? Where are you from? I'm sure you're one of those dumb Asians huh? Stop it already! It's annoying! Hah! Hunter x Hunter and Shaman King together? It's too disgusting!
Wahahahaha! Quite a mail I got. I don't know if she would read this, but well, I decided to answer this here so if other readers have the same concern as hers, they will be addressed as well.
Alright, my fault. I forgot to say that this is an AU. An Alternate Universe fanfic, meaning, what goes for the series doesn't necessarily affect the cosmic plans I laid down for the lives of the Mankin characters. I am sorry if I disturbed the Horo/Ren sensibilities within you, but believe it or not, I find Ren/Horo cute too ^^ (check my blog in my url if you are not convinced). It's just that I have a thing for Horo/Tamao…the maybe thing. It's like chocolate is the standard flavor in ice cream but I also like mocha. ^^ Well yeah, I just wrote in my chapter that our local channel just finished airing the series of Mankin. Although I didn't get to watch most of its episodes from 26 onwards, I did my best to catch the important events. On the manga thing, yeah, I regret that I didn't get to read the manga, that's why I base most of my stories on the anime, because I'm more familiar with it.
I'm sorry you find my work "rubbish", but I know I can't please all people. That's why I'm constantly working harder on every chapter. I'm sorry if it is not good enough. However, I am not sorry for supporting non-canon couples…in believing, it is not the right or wrong that counts…it's the extent of faith you have on your conviction. I know that no matter how much I ficcate Ren/Pirika, the story would never twist that way (unless Takei-sensei hears me ^^), but heck! It's my belief, and I stand by it. Love may be blind, but faith is even more so, unfortunately.
For the omakes, I understand that it is annoying to read stuff that is in foreign language, thus I also toil in translating the omakes. BTW, I am a proud Filipino…yes, that small seemingly insignificant archipelago that holds the brightest, most welcoming smiling people in the world. My country, the Philippines. ^^ I'm an Asian, and so is Hiroyuki Takei. So is he dumb? ^^
Now about the crossover I did, I'm sorry if you don't find it entertaining. But you are free to skip the omakes.
*whew* There, I've answered all her questions.
So if you have further inquiries like her, drop me an email and I'll try to answer it. ^^